One of life's primal situations; the game of hide and seek. Oh, the delicious thrill of hiding while the others come looking for y...ou, the delicious terror of being discovered, but what panic when, after a long search, the others abandon you! You mustn't hide too well. You mustn't be too good at the game. The player must never be bigger than the game itself.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly say "I do no...t play bridge" is allowed to go over in the corner and run the pianola by himself, while the poor neophyte, no matter how much he may protest that he isn't "at all a good player, in fact I'm perfectly rotten," is never believed, but dragged into a game where it is discovered, too late, that he spoke the truth.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

The traditional American husband and father had the responsibilities--and the privileges--of playing the role of primary provider.... Sharing that role is not easy. To yield exclusive access to the role is to surrender some of the potential for fulfilling the hero fantasy--a fantasy that appeals to us all. The loss is far from trivial.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

And there were presentthe Picninnies,...and the Jobillies,and the Garyulies,and the great Panjandrum himself,with the little round button at top;and they all fell to playing the gameof catch-as-catch-can,till the gunpowder ran out at the heels of their boots.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

I have been required to put roots and shoots and little stems and tendrils together much as their author did, to wander discourage...d and confused as Hansel and Gretel through a dark wood of witches, to strike the hot right way suddenly, but just as suddenly to mire, to drag, to speed, to shout Urreek! to fall asleep, to submit to revelations, certainly to curl a lip, to doubt, unnose a disdainful snort, snick a superior snicker, curse, and then at some point not very pleasantly to realize that the game I'm playing is the game of creation itself, because Tender Buttons is above all a book of kits like those from which harpsichords or paper planes or model bottle boats are fashioned, with intricacy no objection, patience a demand, unreadable plans a pleasure.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

Pessimism ... is, in brief, playing the sure game. You cannot lose at it; you may gain. It is the only view of life in which you c...an never be disappointed. Having reckoned what to do in the worst possible circumstances, when better arise, as they may, life becomes child's play.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

The chess-board is the world; the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nat...ure. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, just, and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »